Olmec Stone Seated Figure, Middle Preclassic, circa 900-600 BC

Lot Closed

November 21, 07:19 PM GMT

Estimate

15,000 - 25,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property from an American Private Collection

Olmec Stone Seated Figure

Middle Preclassic, circa 900-600 BC

Height: 5 ⅝ in (14.3 cm)

Private Collection
Raúl Kamffer, Kamffer Gallery, Mexico City
American Private Collection, acquired from the above in July 1967

Michael D. Coe, ed. The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership, Princeton, 1995, p. 155, cat. no. 27

The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership, December 16, 1995 - February 25, 1996; additional venue: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 14 - June 9, 1996

The mysterious presence of this figure resides in the powerful depiction of the head wearing a wide oval mouth mask, that may be part of a larger face mask. The wearing of a mask and this particular style of a seated posture indicates a ritual ceremony.

The deeply drilled eyes are highlighted by red cinnabar which accents the grooved areas of the minimally carved hands and modeled arms. The blocky lower body tapers erectly to the slender shoulders and the legs are folded completely one atop the other with the hands resting on the knees. The olive-green pale serpentine is highly polished to a glowing finish, which continues on the roughened top of the head. This patch appears to be a deliberate presentation of the raw stone that was included in the finishing polish.

For an Olmec jade head displaying similar full lips, possibly a mouth mask, see Elizabeth P. Benson and Beatriz de la Fuente, eds., Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico, Washington, D.C., 1996, p. 156, pl. 33